How to Recover From Improper /etc/vfstab Entries

If you have made an incorrect entry in the /etc/vfstab file, for example, when mirroring the root (/) file system, the system appears at first to be booting properly. Then, the system fails. To remedy this situation, you need to edit the /etc/vfstab file while in single-user mode.

The high-level steps to recover from improper /etc/vfstab file entries are as follows:

1. Booting the system to single-user mode

2. Running the fsck command on the mirror volume

3. Remounting file system read-write options enabled

4. Optional: running the metaroot command for a root (/) mirror

5. Verifying that the /etc/vfstab file correctly references the volume for the file system entry

6. Rebooting the system